The Question of Palestine by Edward Said

This is still one the best introductions that challenge the dominant Israeli/Zionist narrative. It’s written from a humanist perspective, which manifests why the struggle for justice in Palestine is a struggle for justice in the world at large.

The Return to Haifa by Ghassan Kanafani

Kanafani was the most important intellectual on the Palestinian left assassinated by Israel.

He conveys, through this story, the inhumanity of the dispossession of Palestine and the craving for normality and humanity by those victimised by Zionist brutality. 

Leila Khaled by Sarah Irving 

At a time when Palestinian resistance is a depicted as savage and inhuman, it is good to recall the life and activism of this iconic Palestinian freedom fighter. It’s good to understand better the modes of resistance, their logic and their location in the overall context of the struggle for liberation.

You can hear Ilan Pappe speak at the Marxism Weekender, 1-3 December, LSE Student Union in London. Book your ticket

Another good place to read up on the Palestinian struggle is the Decolonize Palestine website’s reading list. It gives book recommendations on an extensive list of topics from the “peace process” and media and censorship to gender and LGBT+ rights 

You can also buy the following books from Bookmarks—the socialist bookshop:  

The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine by Rashid Khalidi

Moving through critical moments, Khalidi interweaves the voices of journalists, poets and resistance leaders. He adds his own accounts as a child in Beirut during the 1982 siege. The result is a moving account of a hundred-year-long war of occupation, dispossession and colonialism.

The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine by Ilan Pappe

Ilan Pappe offers impressive archival evidence to demonstrate that, from its very inception, a central plank in Israel’s founding ideology was the forcible removal of the indigenous population.

One state by Ghada Karmi

In 1948, Ghada Karmi and her family in Jerusalem were among the Palestinians exiled during the creation of Israel.  She argues powerfully that a democratic one‑state settlement is the best possible route to a just future for all concerned, including Palestinian refugees.

‘Revolution is the Choice of the People’ by Anne Alexander

More than ten years on from the Egyptian ­revolution of 2011, Anne Alexander looks at the great wave of revolts that have shaken the region in the decade since. She examines the political economy of the Middle East and the nature of the regimes which shaped the upheavals.

The Myths of Zionism by John Rose

In his critical account of the roots of Zionism John Rose shows how this powerful political force is based on mythology.

And because Zionism is a living political force, these myths are used to justify political ends—including the oppression of the Palestinian people.

Buy these and other titles at bookmarksbookshop.co.uk